Placer-gold-extracting machine



(No Model.)

' W. M. STRONG.

PLACER GOLD EXTRAGTING MACHINE.

1 No. 594,041. Patented Nov. 23, 1897.

, UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

\VILLIAM M. STRONG, OF CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA.

PLACER-GOLD-EXTRACTING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 594,041, dated November23, 1897.

Application filed February 25, 1895. Serial No. 539,583. (No model.) I

To aZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM M. STRONG, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cedar Rapids, in the county of Linn and State of Iowa, haveinvented a new and useful Placer-Gold-Extraction Machine or Dredge, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a placer-gold-ex traction machine or dredge inwhich a scow or float is fitted with a sand pump or elevator, asubmerged gold-saving sluice-box, a screen being an extension of saidsluiceway in which the sides and bottom are constructed of perforatedsheet metal or wire meshes, a hopper around and below said screen, abatea or gold-pan in position below said hopper and having a horizontaleccentric motion, and a dischargingsluice for carrying away the screenedand washed placer-dirt, gravel, or boulders; and the objects of myinvention are, first, to provide a continuous supply of gold-bearingsand, gravel, or placer material, taking it from the bottom of a riveror from the banks along the shores of same; second, to provide asluiceway paved with'*suitable rifiles .for catching and retaining anymetallic gold that may lodge between said riffles while the placermaterial carrying metallic gold is passing onto the screen; third, tocause a flow of water and movement of placer material through saidsluiceway by means of water-jets entering obliquely the sides of saidsluiceway; fourth, to provide a screen for separating the metallic gold,together with more or less sand, from the placer material which haspassed the riffies in the sluiceway;

fifth, to provide a hopper inclosing the sides and bottom of saidscreen, the hopper having a discharging-aperture at the bottom fordelivering material carrying metallic gold to a batea or gold-pan;sixth, to provide a goldsaving device consisting of a batea or goldpanhaving a horizontal eccentric motion by virtue of which the heavymetallic gold is settled to the bottom of said batea, while'the lightermaterial is washed over the edges of the pan and carried away by meansof a discharging-sluice; seventh, to provide a discharging-sluice forcarrying away the washed or refuse placer material. I attain these ob-In the drawings, A represents the sand pump or'elevator, any type ofwhich may be used, but I prefer to use a sand pump or elevator operatedby means of obliquely-entering water-jets b. Compressed air or steam maybe used instead of water discharging through the jet-nozzles b. The sandpump or elevator is controlled, as regards position, by means of aderrick and Winding-engine mounted upon the deck of the scow or float,as shown in drawings.

B represents a gold-separating sluice-box set into or upon the hull of ascow or float. Into the intake end of said sluiceway the sand pump orelevator A discharges placer material. Entering the sides of thesluiceway at suitable points and obliquely to the long axis of thesluiceway are water-jet nozzles Z), connected by means of a system ofpipes 19 with the pump P. Steam or compressed air may be used throughthese nozzles instead of water. The jet-tubes b are set so as to cause aflow of water and movement of placer material from the discharge end ofsand pump or elevator through the sluiceway and into the receiving endof the screen 0.

The sluiceway B is submerged below the water-level in order to avoidlifting or handling material above Water-level.

The sluiceway B is provided with a cover I), which may be removed forthe purpose of entering said sluiceway. The sluice-box B is pavedthrough its entire length'with the riffles r.

The screen 0 is an extension of the sluiceway B and may be considered asa section of the sluiceway, having the sides and bottom constructed ofperforated sheet metal or of wire meshes, and the riffle paving mayextend on fromthe sluiceway through the screen, 100

and the screen 0 may extend as far forward as may be deemed advisable.The screen is provided with a top or cover constructed of suitablematerial, and may be perforated or not.

The hopperD incloses the sides and bottom of the screen 0 and is soconstructed as to receive material passing through the perforations ormeshes of the screen 0. At a suitable place in the bottom of the hopperD is a discharging aperture d for delivering the screened material intothe batea or gold-pan E.

The batea or gold-pan E maybe constructed of sheet metal or othersuitable material and consists of a shallow vessel the sides of whichhave an acute horizontal angle, as shown in the drawings. The batea orgoldpan is supported by the rods 6, attached to the arms e, whichrevolve horizontally about the shafts e. The shafts e" are driven bymeans of the sprocket-wheels 'w and link belt lor may be driven by asuitable system of gearing in either case by the application of powerfrom an engine or motor. The batea or gold-pan E is thereby given ahorizontal eccentric motion for the purpose of settling the metallicgold to the bottom of the batea or gold-pan,where it remains,while thelighter sand and material is washed over the edges of the batea and bymeans of the pipesf discharged into the discharging-sluice F. The bateaor gold-pan E in position is below the hopper D and operates in the wellH.

The discharge-sluice F is an extension of the screen 0 and the sluicewayB and like the sluiceway has in the sides obliquely-entering water-jetsb for causing a flow of water and movement of the washed and refuseplacer material out of the discharge end of sluiceway. Thedischarge-pipes f draw the material from the bottom of the well H,discharging the same into the discharge-sluice F. The pipes f also causea downward flow of water through the screen C, the hopper D, and overthe batea or gold-pan E.

The hull of the scow or float G may be fitted with water-tightcompartments for elevating or lowering the level of the sluiceway byallowing the said water-tight compartments to fill with water forlowering or by pumping water out for elevating.

The hull of the scow or float G may be fitted with paddle-wheels orscrews for propulsion, also with spuds or corner-posts for the purposeof giving the scow or dredge rigidity when in operation, the lower endsof spuds or posts resting upon the river-bottom and said spuds or postslocked to the hull of scow by means of any suitable fastening.

Upon the deck of the scow or float G are mounted the necessary boilers,engines,

pumps, and apparatus for operating the different parts of theplacer-gold-extraction machine or dredge.

The operation of the machine will be as follows: The machine or dredgeis placed in position to take placer material from the bottom of a riveror other body of .water or from the bank alongside of the dredge. Thepumps are operated under proper pressure to supply the water-jets b andcause an upward flow of water and placer material through the casing ofthe sand pump or elevator A. At the discharge end of the elevator A theplacer material meets an inflow of water through the sluiceway 13,caused by the water-jets b. The metallic gold carried into the sluicewayB, owing to its great specific gravity, will tend to reach the bottom ofthe sluiceway and lodge between the riffles, but may be carried onto thescreen 0. By the time the metallic gold has reached the screen 0 itshould be dragging well toward the bottom of the sluiceway, and meetinga downward as Well as a forward flow of water through the screen thegold should be carried through the perforations or meshes in the sidesor bottom of the screen and by means of the hopper D delivered to thebatea or gold-pan E. The gold-pan E, by virtue of its horizontaleccentric motion, will cause the metallic gold to settle to the bottomand there remain, while the lighter material passes over and isdischarged into the discharging-sluice through the pipes f.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is

1. The combination with a dredging apparatus embracing, first, anexcavating and elevating mechanism and, second, a gold-separatingsluice-box set below the water-line in the hull of a scow or float, of aremovable top or sluice-box cover I), the diagonall y-enterin gjet-tubes b, the rifiie paving r, the screen G, the hopper D, thegold-pan E, the well H, and

the dischargin g-sluices f and F, substantially as described.

2. The combination with a dredging apparatus embracing an excavating andelevating I mechanism of a floating covered gold-separating sluice-box,the obliquely-entering wa- IIO ter-jet tubes 1) and the removable coverI) substantially as described.

3. The combination with a dredging apparatus and floatinggold-separating sluice-box of a screen and concentrating mechanismconsisting of a horizontally-rotating gold-pan or shaking table setbelow said screen, near and at the discharging end of said sluice-boxsubstantially as described.

WILLIAM M. STRONG.

Witnesses:

CHAS. E. PUTNAM, MARTIN L. NEWOOMER.

